No April Fools, it's 2022 - Bon Jovi's "2020" tour begins in Omaha

And we're back! And by we, I mean Bon Jovi, but I've been MIA for a long time as well. I haven't decided how I want to approach the tour at Blame It On The Love this time around, but we'll figure it out over the course of this leg, I guess. 😀

After two years on the sidelines, Bon Jovi finally began their tour in support of the 2020 album -- on April Fool's Day of all days. Kelli McDonald, Hugh's wife, made Jon's American flag leather jacket. And this is what the band played:

Omaha, Nebraska, USA - April 1, 2022

CHI Health Center Omaha

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Beautiful Drug
9. Let It Rain
10. Keep the Faith
11. American Reckoning - acoustic
12. We Don't Run - acoustic
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
14. Who Says You Can't Go Home
15. Lost Highway
16. Wanted Dead or Alive
17. Do What You Can
18. This House Is Not For Sale
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
21. Love's the Only Rule
22. Bad Medicine

 

Some nice inclusions there, including: 

• "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight" for the first time since 2015;
• "Just Older" for the first time since 2011, and
• "Love's the Only Rule" (aka The Circle song they should be playing all the time) for the first time since 2013.

Cheers to Bon Jovi Updates for the heads-up on how long it'd been since those songs were played, 'cause I'm so not keeping track of that stuff.

 

Selected videos from Omaha

"Beautiful Drug". I like this song a lot and I'm bummed we haven't gotten that single and music video for it:

 

 

"We Don't Run". The This Left Feels Right-style acoustic version was dedicated to the people of Ukraine. I'm in two minds about the arrangement but I like Jon in acoustic mode:

"American Reckoning". I alternate between thinking this song is too ham-fisted and thinking it's beautifully sad. But anyway, here it is, with a bit of Bruce Springsteen's "The Promised Land" as a harmonica intro/outro:

"Livin' on a Prayer". This has been transposed to a noticeably lower key but I'm honestly fine with that:

"Love's the Only Rule". Won't lie, this is a bit of a vocal mess. But I still maintain that every time Jon goes to put "Born to Follow" in the set, he should take it out and put this in instead. Or maybe "Superman Tonight". I know he doesn't really rate The Circle anymore, but it's got some good tracks on it:

 

Got other videos from the show you want to share or highlight? Add a link in the comments.

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Feel free to share your thoughts below. 😊

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Videos from Sydney Entertainment Centre

The set list raised a few eyebrows, but love it or hate it, Bon Jovi's December 15 concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre produced more surprises than any other show on the Australian leg. Here are a few videos from that night. (Check out the full set list and a pro shot of Happy Xmas here).

Hallelujah


The Fighter


Thick As Thieves


When We Were Beautiful

EDIT: The audio track for When We Were Beautiful has been muted due to a copyright claim. Other live performances of the same song have also been muted... In fact, the only versions of When We Were Beautiful that seem to be available for listening on YouTube are the official video and Live on Letterman performance -- both on the VEVO channel.

These Days


Always


Love's the Only Rule


Blood on Blood

This Ain't a Love Song, Radio Saved My Life Tonight, Love's the Only Rule in Germany

The last two Bon Jovi shows in Germany have featured the Because We Can Tour premiere of three songs. "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight" from the 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong box set and "Love's the Only Rule" from The Circle were played for the first time on the tour in Stuttgart on June 21, 2013. "This Ain't a Love Song", the lead single from These Days was played in Cologne on June 22.

Check out the videos. :)

This Ain't a Love Song live in Cologne - Jon looks rather pleased with himself. ;)


Love's the Only Rule live in Stuttgart - If they're going to represent The Circle every night (and I'm not saying they shouldn't because I actually love that album), I wouldn't mind this replacing "We Weren't Born to Follow", just quietly.


The Radio Saved My Life Tonight live in Stuttgart

Billy Falcon's Bon Jovi songs

Bon Jovi has collaborated with Billy Falcon a lot over the years... Here are Billy's versions of some of those songs.

when we were were beautiful by Billy Falcon

Superman Tonight edit by Billy Falcon

Everybodys Broken edit by Billy Falcon

Love's The Only Rule demo edit by Billy Falcon

Videos from Mannheim

Setlist-wise, Bon Jovi returned to a bit of form at the Mannheim concert (July 16, 2011). Here are some videos.

Hey God

Good performance of this, though I hope no one was accidentally sprayed by Jon's spit. ;)

I Get a Rush

Is David Bryan pulling faces at someone or is he just really happy? :P

Bad Medicine medley (partial)

Featuring Mercy (with some botched lyrics), Old Time Rock 'n' Roll, the tail end of Bad Medicine, and a tease of Shout. Jon seems to be in a great mood and it's always nice to see Dave get a bit of the spotlight.

In These Arms

Speaking of Dave, he got to take lead vocals here briefly after the first chorus.

The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

In my humble opinion, this is one of the best tracks from 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong even with the chorus down an octave.

Miss Fourth of July

Beautiful as always. I've been a sucker for this for years.

Love's the Only Rule

Played after what had appeared to be the final bows. Jon's love/fear speech kind of reminded me of a scene from Donnie Darko, but I still love this song... Should have been The Circle's lead single (or any single for that matter).

jovigirlfm has a heap of other great videos on her YouTube channel, and you'll find a complete video guide on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Jon Bon Jovi's knee injury in Helsinki

Jon strained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee during Bon Jovi's Helsinki Olympic Stadium concert on June 17, as I mentioned in the last post.

This is the moment it happened, midway through Love's the Only Rule. Jon lets out a yell at about 0:28 and grabs his leg.


Jon gingerly makes his way out to the circle. He's in obvious discomfort at the end of Love's the Only Rule and the start of When We Were Beautiful.


This isn't the first time Jon's hurt himself this tour, having also torn his calf at the new Meadowlands Stadium in July 2010. To his credit, he didn't skip a beat then either.

Videos from Zagreb

Bon Jovi kicked off their European tour in Zagreb, Croatia on June 8, 2011. It also marked the return of Richie Sambora after spending May in rehab.

This is my blog so obviously my bias is going to come through, but they played three These Days songs in Zagreb and all of them are going to be posted below. ;)

Hey God

I've heard better renditions but Jon usually takes some time to "warm up" at the start of a leg. I enjoyed the performance and it's nice to see Richie back. Also nice to hear some voices singing along to this song.

These Days

Damn, what a great song. That's all.

Something for the Pain

Shot from the second tier. Something for the Pain was one of my favourite moments in Perth so I for one don't think I could get sick of them playing it.

And now for a couple of others...

Love's the Only Rule

Probably my favourite live track from The Circle, Jon messes up the lyrics a little bit here but that's okay. ;)

Have a Nice Day

Jon has a hood on and Richie's rocking the double-necked guitar.

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Are there any cowboys in Croatia? Let's find out." The Zagreb fans taking lead vocals the first verse. :)

There are more great videos over at Hath's Circle Tour Blog. I'll have some Dresden videos up next.

Something to Believe In, Mystery Train + more from Vancouver

Bon Jovi hit Vancouver, Canada on March 25 and March 26, 2011... here are some special videos.

Something to Believe In

One of my favourites. Not nearly as good as the third night in Sydney 2010, but if I'd been there live I probably wouldn't have noticed.

Mystery Train

A pleasant shock. I recall not being overly impressed by this song as a teenager, but these days I love it.

Love's the Only Rule

Dear Jon. You clearly care about this song. Play it at every show?

These Days

Jon sucks up to the local crowd with a Vancouver Canucks NHL jersey. ;)

Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars

Some people absolutely despise this song, while others love it. I have no issues with the song itself, but I generally don't bother showcasing it when it's performed so I figured I'd make an exception for the Crash fans this time!

More excellent videos from Vancouver at Hath & Co's Circle Tour Blog.

Videos from Montreal

Bon Jovi played a couple of nights at Montreal's Bell Centre on February 18 and February 19. So how about a few videos to whet the appetite for Madison Square Garden? ;)

The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

Chorus will always lack the power of the studio version when it's dropped an octave, but this is still one of my favourite songs. Maybe even my favourite performance of it.

Living in Sin / Chapel of Love

I'm a bit filthy this wasn't on the Greatest Hits. It was a top 10 Billboard single, which is more than I can say for a lot of other inclusions.

Love's the Only Rule

Love. This. Song. Although Jon starts off with a two-minute speech about the protests in the Middle East; I don't mind this personally, but I know a lot of people get jacked off when rock concerts get "political", even when the artist is well known for their politics.

Dry County

Many of you know I'm incapable of complaining about "Dry County". ;)

Last Man Standing / You Give Love a Bad Name

Focuses on the main stage, so no Jon for "Last Man Standing".

Blood on Blood (acoustic; partial)


Start Me Up / Jumpin' Jack Flash / Dancing in the Street / I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Videos: Reclaiming The Circle in Sydney

As you may have already heard/read, Bon Jovi's three-night stand in Sydney was out of this world from a diehard's perspective, especially the second and third nights. I've been falling over myself trying to figure out what to showcase and how to split the posts up. And given Bon Jovi finally realised that this is The Circle tour, I thought some songs from that album that haven't been played that often might be a good place to start.

Happy Now (Night #3: December 19, 2010)- One of the best songs from The Circle (IMHO of course). I loved it when they used to open shows with this but I think it still works later in the set.


Thorn In My Side (Night #3: December 19, 2010) - Not one of my favourites on the album, but I've always liked it live, especially the twin jam session between JBJ and Richie Sambora at the end... although you can tell which one is the truly comfortable guitarist, haha.


Love's the Only Rule (Night #2: December 18, 2010) - Of all The Circle tracks, this is the one that "grows" the most live. Should have been a single.


I'd Die For You (partial) + Superman Tonight (Night #2: December 18, 2010) - I still think "Superman" could have done better with smarter promotion, but I guess it's a dead horse now.


More videos to come. Also check out Hath's Circle Tour blog for vids.

First videos from London June 17

Still waiting for the likes of "Miss Fourth of July" and "Blood Money" among others, but here are some early videos from the sixth night of Bon Jovi's O2 residency.

LOVE FOR SALE - The start of the song is missing but most of it's here.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE (partial) - Jon: "Maybe you better let me sing". LOL.


HOMEBOUND TRAIN (partial) - I've really missed Richie singing this. Hopefully there'll be a full video.


PS - Just a quick shout-out to cierzo1 who I think was pretty upset at missing this show. Cheers for the tweets!

More Meadowlands videos

Some more videos from Bon Jovi's Meadowlands shows so far.

DRY COUNTY (May 26, 2010) - Here's another, much closer video of "Dry County" from the first night.


NEVER SAY GOODBYE (May 27, 2010) - Jon forgets the lyrics, but I'm not sure which was funnier: the lyric flub or Richie's amused glances at Jon.


ALWAYS (May 27) - I never, ever get sick of Bon Jovi playing "Always".


HAVE A NICE DAY (May 26) - I don't know about anyone else but this is definitely my favourite of the so-called "It's My Life" lead singles. I love the screens here too.


RUNAWAY (May 26) - This is the performance where the sound infamously died.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE (May 26) - Love the screens here too, and this song is still epic despite Jon not being able to go into the crowd like he did in the arenas.

Detroit videos and review

A few videos from Bon Jovi's March 17 show at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE - The "Prince of Detroit", Kid Rock joins Bon Jovi on stage for the "national anthem. Kid Rock gets a little creative with the words but it's good fun to watch.

Pro shot:


Fan video:


HALLELUJAH - Jon forgets the lyrics but pushes on.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE - This has become one of my favourite songs from The Circle based almost entirely on live performances, but I haven't showcased it on the blog since the tour started. Jon causes quite a stir when he goes into the crowd. ;)


Read the full Detroit set list here.

Here's a review by Adam Graham for The Detroit News:

Having outlived several major sea changes in music over the last few decades, the New Jersey four-piece has proved its durability and lasting power to several generations of fans. So "Blood on Blood" -- a song about brotherhood, loyalty and the endurance of friendship -- made perfect sense, and the more than 18,000 fans greeted it with open arms.

Read the full review here.

Honolulu night #1 videos

Videos from the first Circle tour show in Honolulu. You can read the full setlist here.

ROULETTE - Jon talks to the crowd before dedicating this lost treasure to "the hardcore lunatic fans who gave us such a hard time". If there's one criticism that can be levelled at the first two albums, it's that they sound comparatively dated (New Jersey, for instance, is much more timeless. But I don't believe the 80s are anything to be ashamed of.) But "Roulette" still holds up well in 2010, and it's such a cool song. My face hurts from grinning so much. :P


DIAMOND RING - Love the intimacy this song brings. Check out the response from Richie when Jon asks if anyone's married or wants to be. ;)


BED OF ROSES - One of the first Bon Jovi songs I ever heard and still in my top five of all time. So glad they brought it back on the last tour.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE - Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this song (catchy but fairly lightweight to be honest) could be so epic in a live setting. Jon fluffs some of the words and his voice is a bit thin (though better than at this stage of the previous tour), but I was almost shaking while watching this... and I wasn't even there!